Ransomware: Why You Should Care

Ransomware: Why You Should Care

Viruses extortionists (ransomware, cryptoviruses) work in a similar way: they block the user’s desktop, encrypt important documents and files saved on the computer, then delete the originals and demand a ransom. Typically in Bitcoin, so they can provide you with a key to unlock your computer and to be able to continue working and have access to your saved files. Often the creators of cryptoviruses have strict conditions for the terms of payment of the redemption. If the owner of the files does not fit within these terms, the key is deleted and it will be impossible for the user to restore the files.

Ransomware is the most massive and significant attacks of computer viruses in the world.

Here a chronology of the first viruses in history, as well as the largest-scale virus computer attacks.

In 1971, the first program in the world, which was able to independently reproduce copies of itself on a computer network, was created by the engineer of the American technology company BBN Technologies, Bob Thomas. The program, called Creeper was not malicious: its functionality was limited to self-copying and displaying the message: “I’m the creeper, catch me if you can!” A year later another BBN engineer, e-mail inventor Ray Tomlinson, created the first anti-virus that self-replicated on the network computers and deleted Creeper.

The first virus created in 1981 caused an uncontrolled “epidemic.”  This virus spread using a technique now known as a boot sector virus. A virus called Elk Cloner was created by a 15-year-old American high school student Richard Skrenta by infecting the Apple II operating system. The virus infected the magnetic diskettes and, after the 50th access to the infected media a blank screen appears and a joke poem message was displayed. In some cases, the virus could also damage the floppy disk.

The first malicious program Michelangelo that infected over 1 million computers worldwide appeared in 1991 in Australia was written for IBM-compatible personal computers (PCs) and the DOS operating system. Other information from the disk could be restored, but it was difficult for an ordinary PC user to do it. The creator of the virus remained unknown, some cases of program activation were recorded until 1997.

On June 2, 1997, Chen Ing-hau, a student at the University of Datong (Taipei, Taiwan), created the first version of the Chernobyl virus (“Chernobyl” or CIH – according to the first syllables of the author’s name). The virus infected computers with operating systems Windows 95 and 98, triggers on April 26 of each year, the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The virus erased the boot sector of the hard disk and, sometimes, the BIOS data – the boot sector of the computer. In the latter case, it was required to change the chip on the motherboard or even acquire a new computer, since the old one was out of order.

It is estimated that more than 60 million PCs were infected worldwide, and the damage exceeded $ 1 billion.

On May 5, 2000, the world’s largest epidemic of computer virus began. Created by Filipino students Reonel Ramones and Onel De Guzman, the “worm” ILOVEYOU sent itself to all e-mail contacts of the owner of the infected PC and replaced most of the files with documents, images and music on copies of itself. Only in the first 10 days of the epidemic, the number of infected computers exceeded 50 million. To protect themselves from the epidemic, many government agencies around the world have temporarily disconnected e-mail. The total damage was subsequently estimated at $ 15 billion. The Philippine police quickly found the creators of the virus. However, they went unpunished due to the lack of an article in the local criminal code providing responsibility for computer crimes.

On September 2010, the Stuxnet virus hit the computers of employees of the nuclear power station in Bushehr (Iran). It created problems in the functioning of centrifuges of the Uranium Enrichment Complex in Natanz. According to experts, Stuxnet was the first virus to be used as a cyber weapon.

Danger of Ransomware

On May 12, 2017 a significant number of computers with Windows as operating system were attacked by a virus-extortionist WannaCry. The virus encrypts user files so that they cannot be used. For decrypting the data, the attackers demanded $ 600 in the crypto currency of bitcoin.

According to Europol, the attack affected more than 200,000 computers across 150 countries. The four most affected countries were Russia, Ukraine, India and Taiwan according to Kaspersky Lab.  The attack, in particular, affected the National Health Service hospitals of Great Britain. Up to 70,000 devices including computers, MRI scanners, blood-storage refrigerators, and theater equipment have been affected. Cyber risk modeling firm Cyence estimates the potential costs from the hack at $4 billion.

Don’t Miss: The Dangers of Ransomware & How To Overcome A Cyber Attack

On June 27, 2017, from the attack of a new variant of Petya Ransomware many of large organizations have suffered in multiple countries, but especially in Ukraine and Russia.

The Petya virus spreads through links in e-mail messages and blocks the user’s access to the computer hard drive, demanding a ransom of $ 300 in bitcoins. This is similar to the malicious program WannaCry. During this attack, the radiation monitoring system at Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant  went offline. Some Ukrainian ministries, banks and metro systems were also affected. It is said to be the most destructive cyberattack ever.

The Business Continuity Solution to Ransomware

The best solution to protect your data and company from a different type of cyberattack is QBR (Quick Backup Recovery) Business Continuity Service, powered by Datto and provided by Namtek Consulting Services.  QBR entails on-site real-time data and machine backup through virtualization as well as off-site backup to the cloud. This hybrid solution allows for quick recovery during a disaster with no downtime or data loss. For more information about the latest solutions in Backup and Recovery visit us at: Quick-Backup-Recovery.com

dont-be-the-next-victim-of-a-ransomware-attack-qbr

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Systems integration: how to avoid mismanagement

Systems integration: how to avoid mismanagement

As we mentioned in one of our previous articles, change in the workplace is inevitable. The business world is constantly evolving, and companies must always be ready to adapt to change.

This change is happening whether we like it or not, for example, systems integration needs to be well managed in order to constantly improve and take advantage of the surge in technology. As a result, companies with a well-detailed plan that explains the procedures to be followed will gain a competitive edge. That said, unfortunately, poor implementation management is more common than good management, and will often lead to internal resistance.

Business Automation

The major changes we see every day are the implementation of new management software, B2B integration and systems integration.

When business leaders realize that they need to innovate and streamline their business processes, they need to introduce changes to their workplace. Many of them put off this change for as long as possible, until it affects the growth of their business.

Why does this happen so often? Partly because people are creatures of habit. Habit makes our tasks and jobs much easier, and it’s not surprising that people like repetitive actions, stability and security. So it’s not surprising that employees are generally the biggest opponents to business process change. This happens, not because employees don’t want to see their company thrive; but mostly to poor implementation management , the main topic of today’s blog.

Poor management of system implementation and integration

Change is a sensitive subject. As mentioned above, not too many people accept change with open arms. So broaching this subject with employees is a difficult task, and it needs to be presented well.

So why do employees tend to resist software implementation?

  1. Managers don’t communicate with their people properly. If employees don’t know exactly what’s going on (they’re in complete darkness), they’ll resist. Will they lose their jobs as a result? Will their daily tasks be affected? Who will be responsible? How long will it take? When employees have more questions than answers, it becomes a slippery slope.
  2. Employees do not trust the management team, which is not as transparent and open.
  3. The timing of the new software implementation was poorly chosen by management, i.e. during a company’s busy season, causing additional constraints and pressures on the entire team.
  4. Managers, who are responsible for disseminating information, are not competent or expert in this field. Their stress and anxiety about the new project don’t help to calm employees. Fear of the unknown is contagious – managers should be aware of this.

How to implement changes effectively

First of all, managers need to understand that everyone handles change differently, and that resistance is always a possibility. The best way to deal with it is to COMMUNICATE and LISTEN. This strengthens trust between management and employees.

In addition to this, once a Systems Integration has been announced, through a corporate email or meeting, it’s important to address the following points:

  • Why is this integration necessary?
  • Why it’s important for the company (what are its general benefits, short-term benefits and long-term benefits)
  • How will Systems Integration impact the work of individual departments and employees? (What’s in it for them?)
  • What are management’s objectives and expectations for this integration?
  • Who will manage this change? Who can employees contact to discuss change-related issues or share ideas to make change easier for everyone?

By sharing all important information with the whole team, everyone will be on the same page and feel listened to and appreciated.

integrationSoftware implementation in several stages

It is also extremely important to implement any type of software implementation or systems integration in several stages. There are many steps that managers can take before starting a software implementation. Once the news of a software upgrade is announced, it is essential that employees take the time to ask questions, address concerns, read any system documentation, view a system demo (for each department) understand their role during implementation, plan training during implementation, learn about the new process changes that will take place with the new system… After all this, the implementation can take place. Jumping headfirst into an implementation without proper preparation can lead to major resistance and setbacks in the future.

Systems integration – a major advantage for your company

There’s no stopping creation and improvement in the business world. As industries develop, companies must evolve; as technology advances. Companies need to implement changes as quickly as possible; when governments pass new laws, companies need to comply. As customers become more demanding and better informed, companies need to provide better products and fast, efficient service.

It’s time for managers to stop putting off software integration and implementation, and instead focus on helping employees see change in a positive light, which will undoubtedly bring major benefits to your business.


Contact us today for a smooth and successful software implementation.

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Role of EDI Integration in The Global E-commerce Trends 2023

Role of EDI Integration in The Global E-commerce Trends 2023

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

We get a lot of questions about the relationship between our EDI Services and e-commerce; So, we have decided to close this year by predicting the global e-commerce trends for 2023, and the role of EDI Integration in e-commerce. In this article, you will learn how our popular EDI2XML Fully Managed Services can help increase your e-commerce success in 2023.

The Global E-commerce Trends 2023

EDI Intergation and e-commerce

2023 is around the corner it’s time to plan your actions. E-commerce continues to show rapid growth, but competition is growing faster than the market itself. This means that it will be not so easy to “win hearts” of buyers, and you can lose them more easily. Customers will be more and more capricious about delivering goods and prices.

2023 will be the year when competition in e-commerce will reach a new level. More and more young companies are appearing in the online marketplace. The big, strong brands are heavily promoting their online offerings on the Internet. They are looking to occupy a significant part of the e-commerce market, because consumers are increasingly going online.

According to Statista  in 2022, e-retail sales surpassed 5.7 billion U.S. dollars worldwide.

E-commerce in the United States of America

Since the dawn of e-commerce, the main driver for the growth of this market was the United States. Online trading has become a global phenomenon, but the US remained one of the most important markets for e-commerce.

The annual increase in sales via the Internet has led to an explosive growth in e-commerce in the United States over the past 15 years.

According to Digital Commerce 360 US eCommerce grows 7.3% in Q2 2022

Although growth rates remain active, the US market is not so far from saturation point. We can expect that sales to stop growing at such a rapid pace.

The American e-commerce market gave way to China

The situation in the Asian markets is directly opposed, especially in China. According to forecasts, the rapid growth of e-commerce will continue in China. The growth of Chinese online sales is taking a huge share of the global e-commerce market.

Despite the large volume of sales in America, the world record set by the Chinese online giant Alibaba that records $56bn in first post-virus Singles’ Day sales, beating 2019 high.

According to John Caplan, head of North American B2B, Alibaba Group, More than 150,000 brands and merchants doing business on Alibaba’s online platforms.

Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate of 13.9 % resulting in a market volume of US$956,488 m in 2022.

China e-commerce market

Source: Statista

The growth of e-commerce in Asian countries has serious consequences for companies engaged in online business. To benefit from the new trend, they need to enter the international market with their proposals.

EDI – unlimited possibilities to sell across the globe

The advantage of online trading is that you do not need a physical store in order to start selling in a new country. International delivery of goods is becoming more and more accessible.

Read: Must-Have BigCommerce Integrations

However, you should always keep in mind that it is practically impossible to carry out online business, without full integration of systems between your eCommerce platform and your vendors, including Electronic data interchange (EDI); especially we are now in the international trade and transactions are becoming very “time-sensitive”.

EDI and systems Integration, play a major role in e-commerce. To be a supplier of companies such as Amazon, Wal-Mart, Cabela’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Costco, and other important retailers, you need to be able to send and receive documents electronically.

EDI has proved its reliability and importance for businesses. Processing orders in digital format automatically increase the speed, accuracy and efficiency of any business.

Fully Managed EDI Service for E-commerce

EDI2XML Managed Services is the perfect option for businesses looking to simplify their entire EDI and integration process with their Trading Partners. This service is ideal for businesses of all sizes, from various industries.

EDI2XML is a full-service offering. Our team of EDI and IT integration experts handle a company’s entire EDI project from start to end. All conversions of EDI files are done at our end, leaving customers with no on-site installation of software or hardware. Their EDI project is on time and within budget.

Keep learning about EDI integration and the MANY benefits it has for your online business by visiting our website EDI2XML.com or contacting us directly today!

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Business Continuity Services for total data protection

Business Continuity

After consulting with many business owners, I realized that when software experts mention the words “business disaster” or “disaster recovery”, many people are thinking of natural phenomena, or weather events, such as floods, hurricanes, fires, ice storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, windstorms, and so on. Of course these disasters can affect a business, and they can have devastating repercussions, such as extended downtime, property damage, even loss of revenue and more. The probability, however, of such meteorological events is much lower than that of man-made technological events.

stopping time QBR

Technological and human disasters, including equipment failures, software malfunctions, user errors, security breaches, etc., can also have devastating effects on a company’s operations, resulting in downtime, lost data, lost productivity, lost expenses and more. One hour of downtime can cost companies thousands of dollars for small businesses and hundreds of thousands of dollars for large companies! It is essential to know your maximum downtime (RTO Recovery Time Objective) for your company. How long can you stop and survive? If your RTO is in seconds or minutes, it’s best to make sure you have a business continuity solution with off-site data storage.

Many companies, without a Business Continuity and a disaster recovery plan, many companies fail to recover from disasters. So, before you think to yourself, “we have great weather here or we almost never have power outages, why should I pay for a Business Continuity ?” – remember that your business is more likely to fall victim to ransomware, have an employee accidentally delete an important file or deal with a failing server. No matter how sudden and disastrous the event, you want to be protected. Ask yourself: is my company’s data worth the risk? You may have made it through the last 10 years without a disaster, but can you really guarantee that the next 10 will also be crisis-free? Your employees are human, they can make mistakes.

Ransomware attackers don’t care who you are or how big your company is, they attack everyone. We can never be too sure when a server will fail. There are no certainties, which is why it’s important to have a disaster recovery plan and a Business Continuity Service to guarantee TOTAL data protection, so you can get up and running quickly and easily. It’s not worth risking your company’s reputation and operations.

In our previous blog , we mentioned the term “data assurance”. This is how our customers see their Business Continuity Solution and service. They see it as an insurance policy in place to protect their company’s most important asset – their data! Companies are increasingly willing to pay a monthly fee for Business Continuity Services to ensure that their data is 100% protected and easily recoverable.

There’s no point in simply backing up your data only to find that after a disaster it takes DAYS to recover everything! Now that companies are using comprehensive management systems rather than keeping important information on paper, they are realizing the need for such a backup solution. They are also relying less on those outdated and obsolete tapes and drives to back up their data, and more on hybrid cloud backup.

Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot about “Ransomware”. This type of security breach is currently a big problem for companies, and even individuals, all over the world. The probability of a company suffering a ransomware attack is very high.

In 2016, the US and Canada jointly issued an alert, warning businesses and individuals of “the recent increase in extortion attacks that infect computers with viruses known as ransomware.” This virus not only encrypts a company’s data, but also demands payment to unlock it (Reuters, 2016).

The alert informed people that some of the consequences of ransomware attacks include “loss of information, disruption of current operations, expenses to restore access to company systems and damage to corporate reputation”. Governments have also discouraged victims from paying the pirates, since paying the ransom does not guarantee the release of their files. All it guarantees is that the pirate receives the money and, in some cases, their bank details. (Reuters, 2016)

Ransomware continues to dominate in 2017, with small and larger companies still paying millions of dollars to unlock their encrypted.

There are many ways in which a company can fall victim to a cyber attack. The most common are when computer users click on the wrong link or download an encrypted attachment. Other adulterations include spinning, baiting and heeling.

It’s important to understand why total data protection is essential in today’s business world. Businesses are now run and managed with software systems, so it’s important to ensure that there are no service interruptions in the event of the unexpected. Companies need to protect themselves not only against natural disasters, but also against man-made technological events, which are far more likely to occur.

Reduce your risks with a Business Continuity solution and a solid disaster recovery plan. Contact us today!

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The Dangers of Ransomware & How To Overcome A Cyber Attack

YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED! To decrypt your files you need to obtain the private key. To obtain the private key, you need to pay 300 USD.

Any attempt to remove or damage this software will lead to the immediate destruction of the private key by server.

MalwareThis message is one that no business owner wants to see pop up on their office computer screen. Ransomware – a nasty and costly virus (or malware) that locks down computers and encrypts data until money (or a ransom) is sent – is not going anywhere. In fact, it seems to be such an epidemic these days as there are new malwares popping up and more victims paying up, which includes individuals, small and large organizations, hospitals, universities, government agencies and more.

Our team of IT experts has already seen and helped businesses recover from ransomware and other malware attacks and in fact, we’ve recently been hit as well. What has saved us and our customers from incurring high and sometimes damaging costs is the fact that we were all well prepared for such an incident. (Read our previous blog called “Ransomware Detected”)

How? Let me further explain about the costs that businesses can incur from ransomware and what to do to recover easily and quickly from this cyberattack.

First and foremost, it’s important to know that anyone can get hit by ransomware. It is not only large, successful organizations or government agencies. It can be small businesses or individuals. Secondly, it’s criticial that business owners get rid of the thought that “it won’t happen to me or my business – ransomware has been around for years and I’ve never had an incident like that”. This is such a dangerous thought. It may never have happened before but it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen in the future. Cyber criminals are only getting smarter and more powerful. Ransomware has become a billion dollar industry, where about 4,000 cyberattacks are launched every single day (Globe and Mail, May 2017)

Unfortunately, even if managers or IT departments do their best to educate their employees on malware and how to identify suspicious emails, links or attachments, we should never take the chance that one bad email won’t slip through. Ransomware can halt business operations immediately and this is very dangerous. Over the last couple of years, on average, ransomware has cost small businesses over $100,000 per attack due to downtime (some companies have been hit more than once in the span of a few months!!). Most people think that the ransom ($) is the biggest cost that comes from a ransomware attack. However, there are a lot more damages that can be incurred, such as;

  1. Loss of revenue due to downtime
  2. Lost customers and damaged reputation
  3. Loss of productivity
  4. The cost of hiring IT experts to restore your systems in the days following an attack
  5. Data loss (!!)

So, even if the ransom is paid rather quickly, it could still take up to a week or more to remove the infection from your systems and get back up and running. (Do you know how much money your company will lose if you are down for a week?) One law firm in the U.S. suffered 3 months of downtime while their systems remained locked! Most smaller companies would not survive this. On top of all of this, companies may never be able to retrieve some of their sensitive business data.

Therefore, the downtime and data loss that companies suffer are two of the biggest threats to a company if attacked by ransomware or any malware. What’s also important to note is that even though the original ransom may be a measly $300 USD, cyber criminals have no morals and can increase this amount at any time and for any reason. For example, hospitals and universities hold highly sensitive information. Cybercriminals are aware that they would pay anything to retrieve their data. Their ransoms are known to be in the thousands – some stories have reported ransoms of $20,000. What’s worse is that if they see how quickly a company pays up the first time they get hit, if they get hit a second time the amount will increase exponentially. It’s a dangerous game and it’s not one any business owner would want to play.

What’s worse, is that most recently, the FBI has urged companies NOT to pay the ransom if their computers get infected. “Paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee an organization that it will get its data back – we’ve seen cases where organizations never got a decryption key after having paid the ransom”, said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James Trainor.” (CNN, July 2017)

The Business Continuity Solution to Ransomware

The BEST way to protect your data and company from this type of attack is to implement a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan and software solution, like QBR, paired with educating your employees. They need to know what to look out for; how to identify suspicious emails, attachments and links and once identified to report them to their IT team right away. If anything should occur, the IT team will have a plan of action ready and will deploy a bare metal restore to remove all traces of the virus and go back in time. Depending on how often you chose to backup your data, all that may be lost is an hour or so of data. After that, everything can be back to normal and operations can continue as if nothing ever happened.

Therefore, implementing a Business Continuity solution like QBR truly is a small price to pay to ensure that your data is safe and your company can survive a Ransomware attack, without incurring downtime. Our customers view this service as their insurance policy instead of an added cost to their business. They would rather pay a monthly service to protect their data than take the risk of getting hit by a malware and having to incur major damages.

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Ransomware Detected!

Read more
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What To Do To Improve Efficiency If Your Teams are Still Using Excel Spreadsheets and Emails

office-toolsIt’s not uncommon to find large and small companies either using multiple separate systems or using Excel Spreadsheets and emails to run the business. Most likely, what you’ll find at these companies are employees relying heavily on their emails to track and manage important files and information, miscommunication between departments, inaccurate and outdated data being shared, and more inefficiencies.

As per our previous blog on the “Dangers of Running a Business solely on Microsoft Office tools”, companies are likely to experience the following if they rely heavily on Excel spreadsheets and other Microsoft Office tools;

  • Data loss and corruption; Spreadsheets are known to become unstable the more information is added to them.
  • Typos and other errors; Sometimes, small typo errors can be difficult to catch but in the long run can cause major problems and headaches.
  • In most cases, these spreadsheets are being shared between various departments. What can happen is that various versions of the same file can be passed around and saved by each department. At this time, different information is travelling from person to person, which can also cause serious problems in the future.

We do realize, however, that change is not always easy for employees and for management in any company and implementing new processes or procedures and implementing new systems is difficult and time consuming. However, change is also inevitable. The business world is constantly evolving and companies should always be ready to adapt in a moment’s notice. So, before getting overwhelmed by the costs involved or the time and effort involved in this finding solutions to current inefficiencies at your business and implementing those solutions, think about the benefits and cost and time savings in the future.

What are your next steps?

Once management understands or realizes their main challenges and problems, it’s now time to gather all your key employees, from each department and write down their processes and day-to-day tasks. This not only allows management to fully understand what their teams are doing and how they are doing it, but also to help properly document important processes.

Next, it’s a great idea to share this documentation with the whole management team, business consultants, IT consultants and top department heads and determine if teams are working with the best and most efficient processes. If not, now is the time to go through each process and find solutions to challenges and better ways of doing things. In many cases, simply by implementing one system for all departments, like a complete ERP solution, with specific rights and permissions can solve a whole lot of headaches and improve efficiency right from the get-go.

In this case, with ONE software system, using ONE database, all employees will have access to important, accurate information. No need to go through hundreds of emails per day or find the latest Excel spreadsheets to find information related to products, sales, etc. This saves a lot of time, effort and critical mistakes!

So, if you are looking to increase data accessibility and visibility, reduce errors, increase efficiency and improve communication company-wide, contact our consultants today!

 

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User Training: The Key To Unlocking The Benefits of A Software System

End User Training During Software ImplementationFor many business owners or managers, making the decision to implement a new software system is a difficult one to make. Oftentimes, the changes and risks that come with a software implementation can discourage those business managers who are looking to streamline their company’s processes and improve overall efficiency with a new system. There’s a ton of information out there on the advantages of using an efficient, up-to-date ERP system but not that much on how to properly handle an implementation phase. No Software Provider wants to scare their clients right from the get-go but this is definitely the wrong approach. By not educating the new software users and providing all the necessary information right from the start, all parties will suffer during the implementation phase.

Therefore, to begin with, it’s important to know the possible risks involved in such a project. This can include failure, user resistance, employee stress and anxiety, improper use of the system, misunderstandings, problems, doubts, fear of change etc. In order to ensure that these risks are eliminated or reduced, end user training is definitely required. These trainings will provide employees (or end users) with the right amount of attention and skills needed to help them acclimate to new processes (that have been changed by the new system implementation) as well as to the new system itself.

You can begin by creating a training plan then scheduling it accordingly, by department or simply by department heads and managers. Trainings can be given either in small groups or on a one-on-one basis. Documentation of course will also be provided to ensure that employees can easily access a “how-to” guide on using the system.

Once these trainings are underway, its advantages will be quite evident since trainings can alleviate stress, combat fears, bring acceptance to the system, reduce system errors and misunderstandings. Bottom line, when software users are properly educated on new functionality and processes, it’s a WIN-WIN for everyone! The trainings will teach end users the necessary skills needed to prevent problems and to use the system in the most efficient way possible. Individual performance will improve thus increasing productivity. Business managers will be happy as well as Software Providers.

As a Software Provider, our team truly understands just how important it is to pay attention to the USERS (or employees) and their needs during an implementation phase, rather than on solely the system itself. We realize how difficult this time may be for some people, especially if they have been used to working with the same processes and systems for years and have developed habits and routines in their workplace. Introducing a new software management system, with new processes, can disrupt their work life and this most definitely can cause stress and fear.

As a complete ERP software implementation can typically take about 12 months, it’s important that during this time, everyone is working together, as a team, for a successful and smooth phase. No surprises or headaches!

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How to solve EDI integration challenges with Oracle’s JD Edwards

JD Edwards, or JDE, is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system by Oracle. There are currently two editions, JDE Enterprise One or JD Edwards World. In many ways, this ERP solution is great for corporate-level enterprises, as it offers many tools and connectors for data integration. One key challenge, however, that companies using a JDE system, no matter its edition, are faced with is the lack of ease for EDI integration within the system. Currently, there is no out-of-the-box integrated EDI solution or connector that would make this process easy, quick and seamless.

JDE EDI integration

Our team has encountered many companies struggling with this inefficiency. As we are not JDE experts, but instead EDI integration experts, we’ve teamed up with our partners at Magic Software Enterprises, who have worked in the JDE world for many years. By leveraging our combined expertise, teamwork and solutions (which will be mentioned below), JDE users can have an EDI integration project that is efficient, successful and within budget.

Therefore, how do we help companies overcome common EDI challenges with their JD Edwards system? By using our popular EDI2XML services, along with Magic Software’s powerful business integration platform called Magic xpi & certified JDE adaptor.

EDI2XML

Our team of EDI experts handle the entire EDI portion of the project, where we convert all EDI X12 or EDIFACT documents into the desired format that is requested by the client, such as flat file, XML, CSV, etc. For outgoing files, EDI2XML works by converting the XML / CSV file into the EDI format, requested by the Trading Partner. We take care of all EDI mapping, Trading Partner configuration, XML/CSV/flat file translations, and back and forth transactions with Trading Partners. Visit us at http://www.edi2xml.com

Read: The Definitive Checklist For Oracle JDE and EDI Integration Projects

Magic xpi for JDE

Magic Software’s xpi platform is an ‘Oracle Validated Integration’ solution that can be used to orchestrate the entire business process, no matter if you are using JD Edwards Enterprise One or JD Edwards World. It comes with a ton of built-in components to build workflows and streamline an entire business flow;

  • Database Gateways to connect with common databases, such as SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Pervasive, MySQL, ODBC, etc.
  • Connectors that allow users to directly connect to JDE, SAP, Dynamics, Salesforce, etc.
  • Triggers & Data Mappers to monitor folders and to map from one file format to another.
  • Connectivity & Messaging through FTP, SOAP, MSMQ, etc.

Therefore, if an incoming EDI document is received by a company, our EDI2XML service will convert this file into the client’s desired format (let’s say XML), then using Magic xpi, will be mapped to JDE by;

  • Creating a step with a Data Mapper
  • Source: XML based on the EDI2XML .xsd (schema file)
  • Destination: the JDE table to feed from the XML format

Once the source and destination are defined, the user can use his or her mouse to drag and drop to map fields from the source to the destination (JDE table).

why-we-love-edi2xml-for-edi-integration-with-jde-and-you-should-too2

In this day and age, EDI integration within management systems should be seamless but for many it is not. This is can cause major headaches for managers. Companies no longer want to hire in-house EDI experts when they already have a full team of in-house JDE developers. It’s about time JDE users can rely on an outsourced EDI Integration Partner that will ensure their daily EDI transactions are processed and streamlined, without difficulties.

Call us today  +1 450-681-3009  to learn more about our EDI2XML Service and JDE Integration capabilities with our Magic Software partner.

 

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System Integration for Beginners

What is System Integration?

business-process-integrationSystem integration is the process of bringing multiple systems or applications into one, allowing them to work together. The goal is so that every system that is being used at the company, be it your CRM, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Warehouse Management, B2C eStore, EDI, etc., will be using a single database. This reduces the need to constantly update different systems and resort to many hours of manual data entry. In today’s fast-paced business environment, it’s crucial that companies have management applications that can speak with one another and share information between them. This results in better visibility and accessibility of information, faster decision-making, reduced redundancies, increased efficiency and more.

Most of the time however we don’t just leave it at “system” integration but expand it to be “business process” integration. We encourage businesses to not only synchronize their internal applications but to streamline entire processes between their departments or business functions as well as connect to their external partners, suppliers and customers.

Integration Services

It’s no wonder that Integration Services have been on the rise over the last few years. As we see more importance being placed on technology in the workplace, business managers are taking notice of the negative impact associated to the use of multiple disconnected management systems. Today businesses are looking to have one clean data set and a complete ERP management system with an integrated eCommerce Store, WMS system, EDI module, Business Intelligence dashboards and more. The effects of such a powerful integrated management solution can bring endless potential to a company and allow employees to constantly have access to real-time business information. Tech-savvy business owners are quickly realizing how to apply technological advancements in order to play them to their advantage.

System and business process integration

System and business process integration has been valuable in eliminating redundancies and making information that much more accessible to decision-makers. Nobody likes to waste time and money on inputting data into multiple systems or continuously updating and searching for information in Excel spreadsheets. On top of it all, with disconnected systems or several separate databases, companies sometimes struggle with poor customer service. More often than not, customer accounts are found to be incomplete, out of sync and/or inaccurate. By integrating systems and processes, your customer service team will have accurate, complete, real-time information right at their fingertips. As I mentioned before, it’s all about providing employees and key decision-makers with access to information.

Unfortunately, not all systems were made to be easily integrated with others (this is a capability our consultants urge business owners to tick off when looking to implement a new ERP solution). The older, inflexible legacy systems were made with limitations to integration possibilities. IT companies, back then, did their best to keep their customers coming back to buy their products rather than make it easy for them to switch to another ERP vendor or to integrate with other software solutions. Essentially, companies felt like prisoners to the technologies they were using.

Today, IT Providers are trying to dissociate themselves from this old way and develop solutions that are much more flexible, simple and easy to work with or integrate with. Companies should no longer feel restricted by the business technologies they are using but rather they should feel empowered by them. System integration is a must for any company looking to streamline their processes and increase visibility and efficiency.

To learn more about how our Integration Experts can help your business, contact us today for a free 1-hour consultation.

 

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